You can think your in paradise but I got to tell you man, the beeping ain't an exotic animal, it's the cement truck backing up getting ready to pave. But hey, it least you'll have one more place to park, right dude!!!

You can think your in paradise but I got to tell you man, the beeping ain't an exotic animal, it's the cement truck backing up getting ready to pave. But hey, it least you'll have one more place to park, right dude!!!

Truth is we are victims of Direct Democracy. Everything is put to a Ballot Initiative and as you would guess the majority vote for everything. They also vote against funding everything.

Add to it that the most powerful lobbying group in the State is for the Prisons. That's why we have more people in jail than any country on the planet except China. That's only California.

Prisons are very expensive so the 3 strikes thing, mandatory minimums, etc all cost us dearly. Arnie is going to dump the "criminals" on the street soon.

ohio county wrote:Are those your pictures? Do you have a new baby at home?

No, not me. Thanks for your interest, though.

But wasn't it funny to see "The oldest living creature on earth - General Sherman Giant redwood tree - 3000 years old"?

Not big, ....... but plenty old.

The bristlecone pines are a small group of pine trees (Family Pinaceae, genus Pinus, subsection Balfourianae) that are thought to reach an age far greater than that of any other single living organism known, up to nearly 5,000 years.

Yes. I'll admit I thought it might be a personal touch. Maybe this isn't the place for that. I have a hard time opposing people all the time. I've lived among hard-core democrats my whole life and have very few enemies. I'd far rather protect my personal relationships at the expense of my political relationships.

_________________Woody: What's shakin', Mr. Peterson?Norm: All four cheeks and a couple of chins.

ohio county wrote:Yes. I'll admit I thought it might be a personal touch. Maybe this isn't the place for that. I have a hard time opposing people all the time. I've lived among hard-core democrats my whole life and have very few enemies. I'd far rather protect my personal relationships at the expense of my political relationships.

Not sure I follow you OC. Is that in reference to the "picture" question?

Aaron wrote:Don't you guys have something like a $14,000,000,000.00 (man, that's a lot of zero's) deficit!!!

And you're going to preach to us???

Really???

See? We even do deficits bigger than the rest of you. Get to work!

Well done, Craig.

A man who can laugh at his own cause is a friend of mine.

Direct democracy is a fascinating matter, and I'd like to explore it. As I understand it, the three common methods right now are referendum, initiative, and recall. I think people like direct democracy when they agree with the majority and "don't trust it" when they don't!

Exactly. It might surprise you to know that I routinely vote against initiatives, even if it's for "the children". They've managed to make me slightly more "anti-tax" than I was in Chicago. I pay 13 or 14 thousand a year on property taxes and yet they always want to add a parcel tax for "insert cause here".

People are shocked when I tell them that. I respond that we should have a renter's tax for the (library, college, high school) and they begin to understand. I pay more than my fair share of state and federal taxes, believe you me.

That being said, it really is the vortex. Amazing shit happens here, regardless of what they tell you on TV.

SFCraig wrote:We are the first state to reach a trillion dollar economy.

And the first to file for bankruptcy if this keeps up. Yeah, California is such a wonderful place...

California could lay off 10,000 state workersTue Feb 10, 9:58 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO, (AFP) – California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger threatened to fire as many as 10,000 state employees if legislators do not approve a deal later this week to help close the state's projected 42-billion-dollar budget deficit.

The governor's spokesman said layoff warnings would be sent to about 20,000 state workers this Friday if there is no deal.

About half of those workers would have their jobs eliminated by July 1. Employees with the least seniority in each state department would get the layoff notices. The 10,000 job cuts are projected to translate to annual savings of around 750 million dollars.

Most of the state's 238,000 workers already are being forced to take off two Fridays each month without pay.

"We don't have a budget and there's only a few things that the governor can do to save the state money," press secretary Aaron McLear said at a media briefing. "This is simply out of necessity. The state is running out of money."

The governor's warning came as he and legislative leaders struggled to win approval for a package of billions of dollars of spending cuts and tax increases to make up for the budget deficit projected over the next 18 months.

Saying the state is on the brink of running out of money, state Controller John Chiang already has delayed tax refunds and has warned that he soon will be forced to stop paying some state bills or providing funds for some state services.